book review: zen spirit, christian spirit by robert e. kennedy
30 Nov 2021
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck
What are the main ideas?
- zen, buddhism, and christianity are three distinct paths and devout christians have a lot to learn from zen and buddhism.
- one way christians can more easily understand the role of jesus is to final parallels in other like traditions. jesus, in his death and giving up himself, is how he sought unity with the father/god. in buddhism, the only path is to renounce all evil karma over and over. in sufism, the path to self-anhilation, is the path of oneness. and in judaism, joseph’s brothers could only present themselves to the king after realizing their depravity having sold their brother (who was, in some ways, that very king).
If I implemented one idea from this book right now, which one would it be?
when confused about a particularity of christianity, see if an approach from buddhism, zen buddhism particularly, can shed some light. the contradictions and paradoxes that fill zen buddhism can be helpful to break through the imperial linearity of our current-day christianity.
How would I describe the book to a friend?
this book is a wild ride. koans, quotes, poetry, and deep thoughts tumble one over another in this tiny but packed text. this book is broken into 4 parts: part I which is the intro explainer text (what is christianity, what is buddhism, what is zen, what do they have to do either each), parts II and IV, which i don’t totally understanad their functions, and part III, which, imho, is the gold. kennedy (sensei?) takes 20+ topics and for each, devotes a chapter (a few pages each), to show how zen (and other traditions) could illuminate that aspect of christianity. it’s brilliant. topics show up like: christ, merit, good intentions, no mind, holiness, liturgy, and more. if i come back to this book, it’ll be to reread the koan, poetry, and insights in these chapters.
reminder: book review structure
words / writing / post-processing
321w / 20min / ?min